


The Blackmail

by AcieReyloPawesome



Category: In a Heartbeat (Short Film)
Genre: And I mean really violent, Angst, But the world is against them, Emotional Abuse, Feels, First Kiss, Hatred, Homophobia, Jonathan's mom is the best mom and forgiving, LGBTQIA+, Love, M/M, Physical Abuse, Strangling, Violence, blackmailing, two boys in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-06
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-18 23:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14862450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcieReyloPawesome/pseuds/AcieReyloPawesome
Summary: Jonathan's brother Carlos finds out about the two's relationship and begins violently blackmailing Sherwin to leave his brother alone.





	The Blackmail

The Blackmail

Sherwin was walking to his locker. He had just gotten out of the cafeteria, it was lunch time. The boy felt weird, he hadn't seen Jonathan all day. But he had to be at school, he would have told Sherwin if he were to be absent.  
It had been two months after Sherwin's heart had popped out. They both still thought of it as the best and the worst day. Yes, it was the day they both realized they liked each other (a lot), but they also realized coming out had some consequences. Some of the kids at school were not so fine with the boys' newfound relationship.  
Of course, there were other LGBTQIA+ people at the school and just accepting people, but then there were also those conservatives, who glared at the two nonstop. Some of them were extremely religious, but some were just homophobes because they were jerks.  
As the ginger approached his locker, he saw the Latino boy leaning on it and smirking. Sherwin blushed and asked:

"Wh-what's going on?"

"It's my birthday tomorrow, y'know? I'm turning 15".., Jonathan came over and hugged Sherwin.

"Oh, uh.. happy early birthday then?" the boy smiled nervously and hugged him back.

"So, how about an early birthday present?" Jonathan said and puckered his lips.

His blue eyes could say more than a thousand words. Sherwin gulped and nodded, already leaning forward when Jonathan said:

"Wait. Meet me after school behind the tree."

Sherwin blushed, but nodded. On the inside, he was a little disappointed. Just two more hours before he'd get to kiss the beautiful boy. He hugged Jonathan one last time before they both left for their final classes.

Neither of them had any idea that someone had been watching them the whole time.

 

"And after The United States of America declared it's independence in 1776, we became a happy, free country!"

The history teacher smiled and wrote the year 1776 on the whiteboard. Sherwin yawned. It was almost two pm. Just one more minute and-

RIIIIIIIIIING!!

Sherwin jumped up, grabbing his backpack and storming out the room before the teacher could even assign homework. He didn't stop even to his locker, he had everything he needed.  
The boy ran out the doors, and almost fell to his face when sitting down behind the tree. Jonathan, who was already there, just stared at the ginger, unblinking, as Sherwin panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Whoah! Huff- you're already here? Huff.. I'm sorry.. the teacher..huff.. kept us for long.. huff.."

"Whoah, slow down, Sherbert! Breathe."

Sherwin nodded as he slowly began to breathe normally.

"I had P.E, so the teacher let us out a little earlier. Did you run all the way here?"

"Yeah.. "

Sherwin smiled awkwardly, just waiting to get to kiss Jonathan. Jonathan found the awkward smile adorable and moved a little bit forward.

"I guess you were really looking forward to this then.."

The Latino boy grabbed Sherwin's hips and pulled him closer. Sherwin let out a giggle, which only made Jonathan blush more. 

"Of course", the ginger replied, taking Jonathan's face to his palms and pulling him in on the kiss.

It was a short, little kiss. Just a lovely way to show affection. As they let go, Sherwin couldn't help but smile and giggle again. Jonathan had a lovestruck smile on his face.  
He moved forward again, kissing Sherwin a little harder this time. Sherwin was a little confused at first, but kissed then back and slipped his hands to the boy's dark, perfect hair.  
After a while, Sherwin pulled away and whispered:

"Happy 15th Birthday, Jonny."

"Thank you, Sherbert. It's a sweet fifteen now."

Sherwin giggled.

"Isn't it a sweet sixteen?"

"You think I could've waited that long?"

The boys laughed and emraced each other one last time, before departing. Sherwin couldn't help but smile. He could've danced of happiness. And he did.  
Sherwin shook his hands from side to side, jumping up and clapping his hands. When he twirled, he realized there was a guy straight in front of him.

And he looked exactly like Jonathan.

Sherwin forgot to breathe for a second. He stared at the boy, who clearly shared some same features as Jonathan. He had the same dark hair, wide eyes and the same exact hair style. But his eyes were brown, not blue, and his nose was wider. It was one of the boys who often stared at Sherwin and Jonathan.

"Um.. hi.. Do I know you?" Sherwin tried to sound like he wasn't freaking out.

"You know my brother. Very well, may I add."

'So it's his brother. Great. Aaand he saw us. GREAT.' Sherwin thought.

"Uhh.. So you're Jonathan's brother? Haha! He.. he never told me about you.."

"Cut the crap, Sherman!"

The boy's voice didn't sound happy. More like pure hatred and wrath.

"It's actually Sherw-"

"I know what you've been doing with my brother, you disgusting f*g! I could've still saved him, I could've gotten him a girlfriend, but no! You disgusting peace of sh*t had interfere and turn him into a f*cking sinner!"

Sherwin's eyes widened. His heart started to beat extremely fast. This was no good. 

"If you don't leave Jonathan alone, you can be sure, I'll f*cking kill you. I'll beat you up so hard, he won't even bother to look at you. So leave Jonathan alone. Start ignoring him, break his heart, end your disgusting relationship or you're dead."

The boy glared at Sherwin one more time before turning around and leaving. Sherwin couldn't breath. He could only cry.

 

The next day, Jonathan felt like the happiest boy in the world. It was his birthday, finally, and remembering Sherwin's kiss he couldn't stop smiling.  
When he was eating breakfast, he noticed his brother, Carlos, was staring at him. 

"What is it?" Jonathan asked, sighing.

"Have you met any cute girls yet? I mean, I've seen the way Sara looks at you. You gonna ask her out, Jonny?"

Jonathan stared at Carlos, took a deep breath and said:

"No, Carlos. Sara isn't exactly my type."

Carlos's expression turned a little colder. 'Not your type?' he wanted to yell. 'Oh right, I forgot your type is the f*ggot fire crotch!' 

"What about Emily? She's hot."

"Nope."

"Dayna?"

"Nah."

"Jessica?"

"Meh."

"Meh? Really bro?"

"Don't call me that. And is it not okay for me to just not be interested?!" Jonathan jumped up from his chair, staring at his brother with fury. 

Carlos couldn't say a word. The anger of towards the blue eyed boy made him want to strangle the redhead boy. 

"What are you boys yelling about?"

Their mother had appeared on the dining room door. She was wearing her usual yellow top with low waisted jeans, that really complimented her wide hips. Her brown eyes stared straight to Carlos, with an 'What's going on?' expression.

"Nothing, mom. It's fine", said Jonathan and left to go brush his teeth.

The woman sighed and took a long sip of her coffee. 

"Is there any of that left?" Carlos asked, pointing at the cup.

"In the kitchen", the mother said with a tired tone, taking her purse. "Tell Jonathan we're leaving in five."

"Understood, mama."

As they arrived at school, Jonathan saw Sherwin making his way to the building, reading a book on the way. 'Wouldn't it be so ironic if my heart popped out now?' Jonathan thought to himself and chuckled.  
He ran to the ginger, hugging him from the back and slipping a little kiss on his cheek. Sherwin almost threw his book in the air. He turned around, his cheeks burning up.

"He-hey Jonny! I was reading, so I.. Didn't see ya there.. ha.. ha.."

Sherwin gulped as he saw Carlos glaring at him like a lion at an antelope. Jonathan leaned in and kissed Sherwin softly and lovingly. The redhead quickly pulled away, afraid Carlos would do what he promised. Jonathan's blue eyes were filled with astonishment.

"Is something wrong?"

"Th-th-there's someone o-over there.." Sherwin said, avoiding eye contact with Carlos.

The Latino boy turned around only to meet his brother's brown eyes, glaring at them.

"So Jonny, is this your type?" Carlos spat the words out like they were acid.

"Yes, what about it?!" Jonathan yelled. He was getting very infuriated at his brother.

"You disgust me. "

After saying that, Carlos walked by the two, glaring at Sherwin on the way. As the big, wooden door closed, Jonathan gave Sherwin an awkward, but well-meaning smile.

"Now that we're alone.."

Sherwin hesitated at first, but then he thought: 'Hey, his brother isn't here.. he'll never know.'

He still chose to pull Jonathan a little bit to the side, so that they weren't in front of the stairs, so not at the center of attention. After making sure no one could see them, not even from the other story windows, he grabbed Jonathan's face and kissed him. 

The fear of Carlos and never being able to kiss the Latino again disappeared when he could taste the lips of that beautiful boy. 

There was no homophobe brother.

There was no fear of him beating Sherwin up.

There was only Jonathan. 

 

As the day moved by, Sherwin forgot all about Carlos and focused on being happy. He joyfully took his backpack from the locker, closed it and started to head out. Stepping outside, he let the fresh spring wind brush all over his face, playing with his red, curly locks. Sherwin inhaled the sharp air of April and smiled. Everything was perfect. The love of his life, Jonathan, loved him back, and even though they'd probably face some judging along the way, he knew that as long as they were together, he could do anything.

"YOU."

A raspy, familiar voice startled Sherwin. Too familiar. Oh no. 

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO LEAVE JONATHAN ALONE?!" the brother screamed, pinning Sherwin to the wall.

Sherwin tried to speak, but he had trouble breathing. The Latino boy had wrapped his hands around his neck. Carlos was choking him.

"Pl-please stop.." he tried to say, but the hands only tightened their grip.

"NO!! IF YOU F*GGOT DON'T LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE, I'LL KILL YOU!!"

It felt like he was going to die. Sure, Sherwin had been punched, slapped, kicked and scartched before, but never strangled. Was Jonathan really worth all this trouble?  
All those weeks of loving each other, all the secret glances, all the moments shared under the tree, all their hugs, all their dates, all the kisses..were they worth it? 

Sherwin had never fallen in love before, it was something completely new and he was unexpiriensed. He wanted to enjoy every new step with enthusiasm, but what if it never became true? What if he could never smile at Jonathan again, hug him, kiss him, pet his perfect brown hair and drown in those blue eyes? Could he really go everyday with pretending to hate Jonathan more than anyone in the world? Sherwin knew, he could never really hate him, even if he hurted him. That's what love does, he thought pessimisticly.

But maybe it was the only way. Sherwin knew, that Jonathan would feel much better if they stopped their relationship rather than letting Carlos kill him out of love. Not good, but it was the better option. It may have been selfish, but when someone is trying to kill you, you don't exactly think what your friends are gonna think about it.

Sherwin felt weak. He couldn't breath, talk or move. Quietly, he whispred:  
"Jonathan.."

Carlos finally led go, and Sherwin collapsed to the ground. He was on his knees, coughing, trying to catch his breath. He glanced up, only to see Carlos's brown eyes filled with fury.

"I don't want you ruining my brother with your little 'rainbow magic'. So leave him alone, or I will destroy you."

The boy left, leaving Sherwin sitting up against the wall. The redhead wrapped his arms around his knees and started to sob. 

'Why can't he just accept us?' he thought. Why are girls allowed to love Jonathan, but I'm not? It's not fair..Jonathan would never do this to Carlos's girlfriend! 

Sherwin lifted his gaze, when he heard a big thump. It was Jonathan, who was staring at the ginger with astonishment. Noticing the streams of tears on the redhead's face he quickly made his way down the stairs and sat on his knees.

"Sherbert, what happened? Who did this to you?"

Sherwin tried his best to not look at those beautiful sky blue eyes. He refused to answer, he couldn't. He had made sure Carlos wouldn't had seen them kiss, but he did anyway. He couldn't risk almost suffocating again. 

"Sherbert?" Jonathan asked, a little bit sweeter this time, almost with a flirty tone.

God, how much Sherwin loved his angelic voice. But he couldn't break.

"It's.. nothing. I'm just fine. J-just some bullies.. Y'know.."

Sherwin felt horrible lying to the Latino boy. Their relationship was built with trust, and being dishonest made him feel like he had broke the number one rule of Jonathan. Honesty.  
Jonathan knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. The way Sherwin avoided his gaze was proof enough. Jonathan couldn't understand.  
What is it that Sherwin feels unable to tell me? 

"Sherwin, please, I only want to-"

"DON'T!"

"What?"

The Latino boy stared at the ginger. Sherwin couldn't watch him in the eye. He felt tears escaping from his eyes, as he murmured:

"Leave me alone. Don't talk to me ever again. I.. I.. I ha-hate you.."

Jonathan could feel tears forming in his eyes. 

"What do mean you hate me? We kissed this morning!!" he yelled.

"I hate you.." Sherwin whispered, crying to his knees.

"NO YOU DON'T! Did someone force you to do this?!"

"No, I.. I was j-just pretending, I-"

"Stop lying to me!"

The two stared at each other. They were crying, blushing, nothing made sense. 'Why couldn't Jonathan just leave me alone?' Sherwin thought. 'Why is Sherwin lying to me like this?' Jonathan thought.

"I.. I'm not lying. L-leave me alone..you.. you f*g..!"

After saying that, Sherwin instantly regretted it and ran away. Jonathan sat there, on the ground, and didn't move even though it started to rain.

 

The next morning, Jonathan was sitting at breakfast. Carlos came in, brushing his ever-so-perfect hair. 

"Morning, brother!"  
Jonathan didn't answer, just stared at his empty plate. 

"Aww, why the long face?" his brother teased, sat down in front of him and sipped his juice.

"Some jerk made Sherwin lie to me yesterday."

Carlos spat out his juice, choking on it. He stared at Jonathan, who looked back with his eye brows raised.

"Wha-what? What did he say?"

"He said he hated me. He also called me a f*g."

Carlos grinned. Jonathan kept staring at his plate.

"He wasn't worth it, bro. And, if I'm being completely honest, I heard he was dared to pretend to have a crush on you. How pathetic, am I right?"

"It's probably just a rumor."

The brown eyed boy looked angry as he took his toast and left.

 

At school, Sherwin rested his head on his locker. He had cried all night thinking about Jonathan, and now he was so tired, he could cry again. 

He hated Carlos and his stupid blackmailing.  
He hated that he had to hate Jonathan.  
He hated that he could never ever kiss Jonathan ever again. 

"Sherwin.."

The ginger knew that voice, but refused to turn around. Instead, he ran away as fast as he could, tears streaming down his cheeks. 

Jonathan was about to run after him, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. 

"Don't. He isn't worth it, Carlos said."

Jonathan shoved his brother's hand off and sighed. He was probably right.

 

A few weeks later, after school, Jonathan was coming from his baseball practice, and was about to go wait for his mom to pick him up. He came to the final corner, and gazed at the tree. Tears appeared in his eyes, but he wiped them away. He was about to go, when he heard a familiar voice. Sherwin's.

"I'm s-sorry! I-I told him to stay away, b-but he didn't!"

I KNEW IT!! Jonathan screamed inside his head. I KNEW SHERBERT WOULD NEVER HATE ME!! Now, who's blackmailing him? I have to find out so I can beat him up..

"You were supposed to break his heart! Not make him run after you!"

Jonathan froze. Carlos.

 

He could hear the anger in his brother's voice. That's why he tried to ask me about girls. That's why he was so pissed when he saw us that one day. That's why he was so weird that one morning.

"I'm sorry, I-"

Sherwin's voice disappeared and was replaced with choking noises. THAT'S IT!  
Jonathan threw his sport bag away and ran to his brother. He grabbed his brother's hands and pulled as hard as he could to remove them from Sherwin's neck. He flipped Carlos over, shoving him to the ground and punching him on the jaw.

"Don't you EVER touch Sherwin again!!"

Carlos gasped.

"Jonathan? What the f*ck are you doing?!"

"You were trying to kill Sherwin!!" Jonathan screamed.

"That's what he deserves for making you a f*ggot!"

"Oh, that's it! YOU HAVE CROSSED THE LINE!!"

As Carlos got up, Jonathan was ready to punch him as hard as he could, when they heard a voice:

"Jonathan?! Carlos?!"

Mrs Lavasga stared at her two sons, the other one bleeding from his cheek, and the other one with his fists up. The third boy, a redhead whom she had never seen before, was sitting on the ground, with clear marks of fingers around his neck as if someone had tried to suffocate him. 

"MOM?!" the two boys yelled. 

"What's going on? Did someone try to strangle this boy over here?" Mrs. Lavasga asked, pointing at Sherwin.

"Carlos did! He tried to kill Sherwin because he couldn't bear seeing me loving a boy!" Jonathan yelled, without thinking.

Mrs. Lavasga blinked. He looked at Jonathan, then Sherwin, and after ten seconds she said:

"That is horrible."

Jonathan gulped, thinking his mother meant the relationship. He was ready to be disowned, denied food or something. He was so afraid, he could cry.

"Carlos Lavasga, do you even realize you could go to jail for this? THIS IS ATTEMPTED MURDER!! And it's even worse, because as you are Hispanic, they will use this as an example to spread hatred for people of color! I can already see the headlines, 'A poor white boy almost killed by a vicious Mexican'!" the woman screamed.

Carlos struggled to find the words. This isn't how it was supposed to go. The redhead was either supposed to break Jonny's heart or die. Not become the victim..

"I can't believe it. You couldn't accept your brother's sexuality just because it isn't the social norm, and you went so far as to attempt murder to interfere with his happiness? That is.. absolutely horrible, Carlos, I can't believe you'd do such a thing!"

"Mom, I'm sorry, he just-"

"I didn't raise a murderer!" Mrs. Lavasga cried. Jonathan ran over to hug his mother.

"Carlos, how about you go to the car", he said, but it wasn't an offer, it was a command. 

The brown eyed boy glared at his brother, but left. Mrs. Lavasga slowly stopped crying and turned to Sherwin.

"I am so horribly sorry. I had no idea Carlos would ever even consider such a thing. How long has this been going on?"

"W-well.. the first time he threatened me was two weeks ago, and he has strangled me..about..everyday... he also made me lie to Jonathan that I hated him and.. wanted him to leave me alone.."

The redhead turned to Jonathan.

"Jonny, I am so sorry, I'm sorry I lied to you.. I was just so afraid! He threatened he'd kill me if I didn't leave you alone, but then when we kissed, he apparently somehow saw it, and told me to break your heart or-"

"Sherbert, I'm sorry too. I knew you'd never hate me, but for some reason I let Carlos convince me you tried to fool me.. "

"I'm sorry.."

"I should be saying sorry. I really, really like you, Sherwin."

"I really like you too, Jonathan."

The two quickly remembered Jonathan's mom was still there. They turned to see her face, expecting an angry frown, but instead, got a sweet, motherly smile. 

"I love you both, and Jonny darling, if your heart chose this beautiful boy, then I say do whatever you want!"

Then her expression went back to serious.

"Just remember, you're both still in middle school."

The two boys blushed, and Jonathan yelled:

"Mom!"  
Mrs. Lavasga laughed. 

"Alright, say your goodbyes. Sherwin, we will talk to Carlos about this and I'd advice you talk to your parents as well. If they want to sue, then.. I guess we'll see in the courtroom. I'll be in the car."

As his mom left, Jonathan softly ran his hand on Sherwin's cheek. He wrapped his arms around the ginger's neck, trying to be careful so it wouldn't hurt, and pulled him in on a deep, passionate kiss.  
Sherwin slid his hands into Jonathan's perfect brown hair and kissed him back.

He never wanted to stop.

**Author's Note:**

> Now, I know that In a Heartbeat came out almost a year ago, but to be fair, I wrote this story very close to that time, but never got around to publish it, probably due to writing so much Reylo... O///O But now I finally did, so yay!  
> Anyways, I hope you liked this story and if you did, you can leave a comment or a kudos or even maybe both if you're feeling generous.. :)  
> You can also check out my other stories (even though they're mostly Star Wars and Miraculous...). But thank you for reading and see you later! Bye!


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